


Charred Wings

by izazov



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angst and Feels, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25223377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izazov/pseuds/izazov
Summary: Once they have been brothers. Now they were mortal enemies.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 15
Kudos: 803





	Charred Wings

"Obi-Wan," a familiar voice all but purred. "It has been far too long. I have missed you."

Obi-Wan had sensed his approach long before he took a seat across the table from Obi-Wan. There was no mistaking that particular maelstrom of barely banked fury and menace. Even if it was currently contained in a human form.

A very familiar form. So familiar Obi-Wan had to clench his teeth to stop himself from uttering the wrong name. Name that still held far too much power over him. Despite the time that has passed. Despite the betrayal. Despite the anger and grief and loss.

"Vader," Obi-Wan said, keeping his voice steady and flat despite the bitter taste that name left in his mouth even after all these centuries. "I cannot say I share the sentiment."

Vader grinned, an almost mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "Come now, Obi-Wan, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Obi-Wan eyed Vader silently one long moment. There was an almost expectant look in his eyes as he held Obi-Wan's gaze with his own. 

"You are not my friend, Vader," Obi-Wan said quietly, watching as Vader's grin turned into a flat, angry line. It brought him no satisfaction. No interaction with Vader ever did. Only more grief. "You merely wear his face."

"I see you still persist in clinging to that lie," Vader sneered, a flash of yellow marring the blue of his eyes. "All these centuries have passed, yet you remain a hypocrite."

"I was not the one who had willingly renounced his name and family, forsaking duty and honor for the empty promise of power," Obi-Wan said, anger seeping through the cracks in his shields despite his best efforts. For a brief moment, he was back in the past, watching his most beloved brother slaughter their kin without mercy or hesitation. Searching for a glimpse of his friend - his Anakin - in the snarling, yellow-eyed monster hurling insults and accusations at him. "And I certainly wasn't the one who had almost brought Heavens to ruin."

Blue turned entirely to yellow as Vader narrowed his eyes. Temperature in the bar dropped suddenly, the smell of sulphur filling the air with its cloying stench.

All conversation stopped abruptly. Silence that descended upon the bar was that of the quiet preceding the crash of thunder. 

For a second, Obi-Wan could catch a glimpse of Vader's wings: charred and mangled, the majority of bones replaced by black metal, spanning the length of the entire bar.

Something twisted inside Obi-Wan, a tangled mess of guilt, regret and longing. He could still recall how brilliantly white those wings had used to shine. How it had felt to be ensconced within their warmth.

It mattered little how fiercely Obi-Wan wished to have forgotten their touch. Along with the memory of his own saber slicing through those wings that accursed day centuries ago.

"You settled for maiming me," Vader hissed, leaning forward menacingly, gloved hands clenching the edge of the table until the wood creaked ominously. Obi-Wan tensed, hand reflexively going toward the saber hidden inside his jacket, all but certain that Vader would attack him despite the wards set upon this place. No matter the name or the allegiance, restraint had never been Vader's forte. "How-"

"Are we going to have a problem here, gentlemen?" a deep voice suddenly cut in. 

Obi-Wan's hand froze halfway to his saber. Reluctantly, he drew his gaze away from Vader's furious one, meeting the bartender's pointed look. "If so, I would like to direct your attention--" he waved a hand in the direction of a large black smear on the floor on the far end of the bar-- "toward the last moron who had failed to take the Sanctuary Wards seriously."

Obi-Wan took a deep, calming breath, placing his hands on the table. 

"My apologies, Dex," Obi-Wan said, his mouth curving into a genial smile. "We were merely discussing a certain... difference of opinion."

Vader snorted loudly. The familiarity of that sound coaxed another stab of longing deep within Obi-Wan. It was impossible to recall how many times he had chided Anakin for making it in front of the Council. It was not as impossible to recall how often it had made Obi-Wan smile despite himself. "Not the phrase I would use. But I am hardly as skilled at twisting the words to suit my purpose as you are."

"I don't actually care about your issues," Dex interjected before Obi-Wan could respond. "What I do care about is not having to scrub your charred remains off my floor. So either play nice, or take your difference of opinion outside."

"We shall respect the Law of Sanctuary," Obi-Wan declared solemnly. "You have my word."

Dex nodded once before looking pointedly at Vader, who leaned back in his chair, raising his hands in a placating manner. His gesture, to Obi-Wan's utter lack of surprise, was largely ruined by a wide, completely unremorseful grin.

Dex shrugged. "It's your funeral. You want a drink?"

Vader inclined his head toward Obi-Wan's half empty glass. "Bring me whatever he's having."

After Dex had left, Vader seemed content to sprawl in his seat, studying Obi-Wan's face with an intensity that bordered on hunger.

It made Obi-Wan's already fraying patience stretch to the point of breaking. When Dex returned with Vader's drink, Obi-Wan felt grateful for the reprieve. Be it love of hate, tenderness or fury, Anakin had always given all of himself.It seemed Vader was no different in that aspect.

After taking a sip, Vader put down the glass, grimacing. "This swill tastes awful. Not to mention it's borderline poisonous."

"I may look human but I am hardly in danger of perishing from a mere drink."

Vader tilted his head to the side, giving Obi-Wan a long, assessing look. "Drink enough of it and you will regret it in the morning."

"What do you want from me, Vader?" Obi-Wan asked in a wary voice. He held little hope that Vader would volunteer any useful information but he was far too tired to play Vader's games. And merely looking at his face made Obi-Wan's chest ache dully.

Vader's face split into a wide grin. He leaned against the table, his eyes gleaming hotly. "I already told you," Vader said in a voice that sounded almost gentle. "I missed you, Master."

The old honorific felt like a hot blade wedging itself inside Obi-Wan's chest. It used to be the source of immense pride for Obi-Wan, now it did nothing but hurt.

"Do not call me that," Obi-Wan forced through gritted teeth. He felt his hands clench into fists seemingly of their volition. It took far more concentration than the actual act merited to force them to loosen. "You have no right to call me that."

_You are not Anakin._

A myriad of emotions passed across Vader's face before it finally settled into an expression of mocking amusement.

"When I was told you were seen wandering this pitiful little rock, I didn't really believe it. Now it seems choking the life out of my informant might have been somewhat hasty on my part."

Obi-Wan remained silent, refusing to take the bait. He had no desire to indulge Vader in an attempt at a twisted parody of the easy banter he and Anakin had so often engaged in.

A look of annoyance flashed across Vader's face. Annoyance and something that seemed almost like disappointment.

"I should have known better. Of course they would have sent you. You have always been the Council's dutiful puppet," Vader drawled mockingly. "Always so eager to please."

Obi-Wan managed to keep his face neutral even as a chill of dread crawled down his spine. The Chosen One's existence was supposed to be Heavens' most guarded secret. How in all Hells had the word of Luke's birth have reached Sidious as quickly as this?

And how could Obi-Wan mitigate the danger?

Obi-Wan forced his mouth into a wry smile. "If you are fishing for information to relay to your master, you should try elsewhere. I have no intention of discussing Heavens' affairs with you."

Vader rolled his eyes, his mouth curving into a grin. "Shouldn't I be the liar out of the two of us?"

Obi-Wan exhaled deeply, keeping his rapidly growing panic safely behind his mental shields. Maybe Vader really was only fishing for information. Maybe Luke's existence had yet to be discovered. But even as Obi-Wan tried to hold onto that fragile hope, something inside him was growing increasingly certain that war was what loomed on the horizon.

A war that might end in the complete annihilation of everything Obi-Wan held dear.

However little of it remained.

Slowly, Obi-Wan rose to his feet. Vader watched him calmly, his only response the widening of his grin.

"Whatever delusions you seem to be harboring about my presence here or our former affiliation," Obi-Wan said, voice almost hitching on the last word. Affiliation. What an inadequate word to encompass centuries upon centuries of camaraderie, based on mutual devotion, loyalty and love. "Know that I will not hesitate to do my duty should you interfere in my affairs."

Vader's grin fell, his expression turning into a scowl. "I would expect no less from the great Obi-Wan Kenobi. After all," Vader added bitterly. "Duty has always come first for you."

Obi-Wan swallowed the words of denial already forming on his lips. There was no point to it now. Whatever they had been to each other, it had burned along with Anakin's wings on the fiery banks of Hell.

Weary beyond measure, as if the mortal shell encompassing his true essence was, in fact, his real nature, Obi-Wan decided to leave Vader with the satisfaction of having the last word. It seemed a small concession to finally leaving Vader's suffocating presence and regaining his equilibrium.

Turning around, Obi-Wan had barely made a single step away before gloved fingers closed tightly around his wrist, yanking him back until his back was pressed against a broad chest.

Obi-Wan forced himself to remain silent and still. He would not give Vader the satisfaction of struggling, or worse yet: showing just how much being this close to Vader affected him. 

Obi-Wan caught Dex's inquiring look from across the bar, giving a minute shake of the head. Dex shrugged and went back to drying the glasses.

"Remove your hand, Vader," Obi-Wan demanded in a clipped voice. 

In a true contrary fashion, Vader released his wrist, only to snake an arm around Obi-Wan's waist, dragging him even further back.

"Since we're exchanging warnings, let me give you one in return," Vader said in a low tone, his breath hot against the shell of Obi-Wan's ear. "I will find the brat you are guarding and I will deliver him to my master even if I have to burn this entire wretched rock, one building at a time."

Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes briefly, barely suppressing a shiver that, to his endless shame and mortification, had less with the fear for Luke's safety, and more with the barest drag of Vader's lips against the side of Obi-Wan's face.

"And then, when I raze your precious Heavens to the ground, I will finally claim my prize," Vader crooned into Obi-Wan's ear, his hand tightening proprietary around Obi-Wan's waist: promise and warning in equal measure. 

"Prize, Vader?" Obi-wan said, barely managing to force the words past the lump in his throat. "What has Sidious promised you now? More power? Haven't you grown tired of spreading misery and death wherever you go?"

Obi-Wan's breath hitched when he felt a scrape of teeth against the shell of his ear. 

"No. Not power," Vader said softly, his voice heavy with a terrible longing. "Something that is mine. Something that has _always_ been mine."

"Release me. Now," Obi-Wan said, his heart drumming a wild rhythm against his sternum. 

Vader's grip tightened almost to the point of pain, only to disappear entirely in the next moment.

Obi-Wan turned his head, almost as if drawn by some invisible force.

Vader was watching him with raw, unmasked hunger. "Until next time, Obi-Wan," he said quietly, his words carrying the weight of a vow.

Obi-Wan swallowed heavily, unable to drag his gaze from Vader's fervent one. A beat later, he did something he had done only once in his long existence: he turned and fled.

But even as his steps led him away from Vader, Obi-Wan could still feel the persistent heat of Vader's gaze on the back of his neck like a fiery brand.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic written for SW fandom and this pairing. It is also first thing I've written in two years. It was fun finally writing something again.


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